Recently, Federal and State governments have made major strides to allow disabled individuals, such as paraplegics, to pursue occupations of their choice. A paraplegic may suffer paralysis of the lower half of his/her body involved with the movement of both legs which prevents his/her driving of a typical automobile and, thus, hindering his/her entrance into the work force. Although the paraplegic may be lacking in strength of his/her lower half of the body, more than likely, the paraplegic develops superior upper body strength, to more than compensate for their disability. It is desired that automobiles be provided having operator control systems that make use of the paraplegic's upper body and do not require the use of his/her legs.
Automobiles that employ control systems that do not require the use of the operator's leg to control the automobile, such as to perform braking operations, are known and some of which are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 656,962 ('962); 2,471,244 ('244) and 3,117,649 ('649), all of which are herein incorporated by reference. The '962 patent discloses a system having a single device that is used to control the steering, acceleration, and braking of the vehicle, but this device is a bar handle which has limitations, especially, in the steering aspects of the automobile by present-day drivers who are used to the handling provided by a steering wheel. The '244 patent uses a primary steering wheel to accomplish the steering of an automobile and which coacts with an auxiliary steering wheel to assist in the braking operations of the automobile, but the operator's usage of two devices to control one automobile may disadvantageously cause the operator to lose the "feel" of the operating characteristics of the automobile. The '649 patent discloses an automobile that has a single handle to control the principal operations of an automobile which are the steering, acceleration and braking. However, the usage of a single handle to control an automobile has limitations, especially as mentioned for the '962 patent, to one who is accustomed to steering an automobile by the use of a steering wheel. It is desired that a control system be provided for an automobile that does not require the use of the legs of the operator to accommodate the braking operation but does not suffer from prior art limitations.
In addition to the desires of the handicapped individuals, a non-handicapped person may also desire a control system that does not require the use of his/her legs, especially, if it allows for a system that more readily controls the automobile. This enhanced control system is particularly suited for racing cars or even in less vigorous recreation endeavors, such as in the use of golf carts. It is desired that a control system for all types of motorized vehicles be provided that enhances the handling of the vehicles but does not require the use of the legs of the operator.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a system for an a vehicle that does not require the use of the legs of the operator to control the automobile, yet provides for enhanced handling capabilities.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a control system for an automobile that is particularly suited for a paraplegic having paralysis of the lower half of the body but also having upper-half body strength that more than compensates for the loss of movement of the lower half of the body.
Still further, it is an object of the present invention to provide a control system that does not require the use of legs but does include a steering wheel and which control system may be adapted to various vehicles including motorized devices such as racing cars, wheelchairs, or golf carts.
These and other objects of the present invention as well as advantages thereof over existing prior art forms will be apparent in view of the following detailed description of the invention and the accompanying claims.